Fox and Wolf
by skybluepainter
Summary: When Toboe is separated from his pack, his only chance of finding them rest in the paws of a vixen. But the forest can hide many dangers...
1. Chapter 1

The largest wolf stuck his nose to the sky. "Smells like a storm, guys."

"Are you sure, Hige?" asked Toboe, glancing up nervously.

"I feel it too," said Kiba. "Let's find some shelter before it hits."

The wind picked up speed. "We'd better find some quick," commented Tsume. Another gust hit them from behind.

Kiba nodded. "Let's go." The pack followed him as he ran forward.

* * *

It was pouring by the time they sighted a spacious cave.

"Come on!" Kiba yelled, stopping just past the entrance to watch the others approach. He glanced up and his face tensed.

Tsume was second to enter and turned to see the reason for Kiba's expression. Not far from where they had come, a fierce twister was stretching its way from the dark sky to the earth below it. And it was heading straight their way! "Get over here quick, Runt!"

Hige crossed the stone threshold and the three adult wolves watched in horror as they realized that Toboe had lagged too far behind. They saw his panicked form rush out from amongst the trees straight for them in an effort to beat the raging wind behind him.

"Ahh!" Toboe yelled. He was the second fastest wolf in the pack, but not nearly as coordinated; he slipped in the mud and fell chest first.

Hige went to retrieve him but Kiba reached out and clamped his jaws firmly on the yellow wolf's collar, holding him back. "Toboe!" Hige yelled as he reared against his restraint.

Toboe opened his eyes and shook his head before realizing he was still outside. He made to stand but, before he could, the whirlwind engulfed him and started to lift him up. He started to panic even more.

"Toboe!" Tsume yelled.

The pack watched as their youngest member was lifted backwards into the vortex. The group yelled his name one last time as they saw his now shadowed form vanish in the wind.

* * *

The red wolf stirred causing the fox to gasp and dart behind a tree. She continued to watch him as he breathed as one would in light sleep. _Not yet awake but not completely asleep_, she thought. The wolf stopped moving. She had never seen such a thing happen before. She was sure that he would be dead after falling from the sky and being thrown into that tree so hard. She glanced at the tree with a good portion of its bark crushed on its surface. The wolf, at its roots, lay with bits of bark wedged between the hairs on his back. She had heard stories about how much stronger wolves were, but she never thought they'd be _this_ strong. Her ears picked up the tiny whimper the wolf made and her eyes fixated on him.

Toboe groaned and opened his dazed eyes, panning his surroundings without moving his head. He blinked, took a deep breath, and sighed. He slowly sat up and let his breathing regulate.

_He's even bigger when he's up!_ the fox thought. Unconsciously, she started to lean forward as her interest grew. She just about jumped out of her skin when he threw his head back and let out a terribly loud howl.

"Tsume! Hige! Kiba!" the wolf howled to the evening sky.

_He's calling others! _She panicked. _I gotta get out of here!_

Toboe heard a shifting of leaves and lowered his head in time to see something dash behind a bush. "Hello?" he asked, nervous but hopeful he wasn't alone. He waited but heard nothing. "I won't hurt you. I was hoping you knew where I am?" He tried to stand but felt a massive sting on his stomach. "Ow." He cringed and dropped back to a laying position. With his eyes closed in pain, he heard a small voice come from behind the bush. He twitched his ear in that direction.

"You best not get up. You got hurt a bit."

He turned his head towards the voice as well and saw a figure take a few steps from behind the bush. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I…I saw you fall from the sky and land into that tree. You must have gotten cut when you were in the twister."

He could see she was afraid. He'd be scared too if he was a fox looking at something twice his size. Braced for the pain he would experience, he deliberately rose to get a feel for how badly injured he was. His stomach made him cringe, but it wasn't until he tried to take a few steps did he feel the pain in his back. "Ah," he whimpered. He sat down. He looked at his roughed-up back and then up at the tree missing bark. He collapsed again when he tried to walk a second time. "Well that's just great," he mumbled to himself. Then he realized that he still didn't know where he was. He glanced at the fox. She had receded a few paces when he stood. "So, _do _you know where we are?"

"I don't know for sure…but I know we are a few miles from the river with the large Minnows and where the herds of Red Deer live."

_Great! _Toboe thought. _We passed lots of those herds of deer before the storm. Even ate a few. Maybe they're near there! _"Thank you!" He smiled. But to her, it must have been a barring because she withdrew further. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," he laughed nervously. Then he remembered, "My name's Toboe. I should have introduced myself first."

"My name is Anawohoru." Then she lightly blushed and looked away. "Ana for short."

"Nice to meet you." He tried not to show his teeth and simply pulled his jowls back in a funny grin. The fox laughed. It was a cute, little laugh which hinted at uncertainty. _She's still scared of me_, Toboe thought. "Do you think you could help me find my friends?" he asked.

Her eyes widened. "You mean other wolves?" Her ears leveled out to the sides of her head.

"Uh, yeah," he halfway asked. _Did I ask too much?_

"Um…O-Okay. I can do that. Absolutely!" She stood up real fast and, somewhat, pranced toward him waving her bushy tail in time with her strides.

Toboe wasn't fooled. He knew what false security looked like better than anyone because he did it all the time. "Great." He smiled again.

* * *

"I still can't smell him."

"Keep trying," commanded Tsume.

Kiba was standing further ahead looking at an angle to the sky. "Guys, I think we should stop sniffing for now and just path-track."

The other two lifted their heads and followed his gaze to the destructive line the storm had made through the forest. They made confirmatory gruffs and started heading down a similar path. If Toboe was carried by the twister, then by following its trail, they should sooner or later come across the pup's scent. Hige took the center trail while Kiba and Tsume took parallel tracks just past the tree line.

* * *

A day later, after more sleep than anything, Toboe had recovered from his back injury enough to not cause too much pain when he walked. The same couldn't be said for the gash on his stomach. Because it made him double over, it made his back ache after only a few paces. So they hadn't been able to make any progress on finding his friends. The fox, Ana, still didn't come too close to him. With not much to do but sleep and rest, he spent time thinking back on what Tsume had once said about how he couldn't trust foxes. He said that they were "lying, thieving bags of leftover runt parts." Of course, that didn't make him feel too good on account that "Runt" was Tsume's nickname for him. But so far, Ana had been anything but. She would go hunting all alone and bring back whatever birds or rodents she could catch and share a large portion with him. He hadn't really talked with her, so he wasn't sure if she was much of a liar. But she had openly told him her nickname without him asking for it, so that had to count for something.

Ana never slept while she knew the wolf was awake. She wasn't stupid. She knew he could do her major damage if given the chance. But she'd never seen a wolf. She was too fascinated to ignore the chance to hang around one who was immobilized. Unlike most foxes, Ana had taught herself to climb trees. She liked being able to get a vantage point when in such compact space such as a forest. And it was an excellent way to prevent sneak attacks from other critters who would love the chance to take out some competition…like wolves. Without ceasing her gaze at the scenery, she asked, "Toboe?"

"Hm?"

She jumped down and leaves scattered. "What's it like to be in a pack?"

"What?"

"I'm a fox. Foxes don't have packs. We are weaned and that's it. We're on our own. I heard wolves stay with their parents and friends and live together. Is that true?"

"Well, normally, yes."

"Normally?"

"I don't think anyone in my pack remembers their parents… Or _any_ relatives for that matter. We simply met up and started traveling together. They're all my friends but they're all too proud to say that to each other themselves, I think." He chuckled. Ana seemed confused. "See, I was raised by an old woman that found me outside a city as a puppy. To make sure nothing happened to me, she gave me these bangles to wear. She had some too." He looked up and pondered. "I don't know anything about the others. We don't talk about that sort of thing."

"But I thought you said you were friends," Ana said, as she scooted forward. "Aren't friends supposed to know everything about each other?"

"We are…We _do_, for the most part. We help protect each other the best we can. But we know how far to push each other. Like, we know we can joke about how Hige can't stop wagging his tail around girls, or how funny Tsume looks when he's embarrassed, or even how Kiba can't take a practical joke." Ana could see his eyes laughing at each recollection. He closed his eyes, turned his head towards her, and opened them with a grin. "We're a bit different."

"Who's the alpha?"

"The alpha? Uh…I guess we don't really have one. I would say Kiba because he's the one who got us together, but he and Tsume have this argument on who's in charge. Typically, whoever moves first, the others follow. But sometimes leadership swaps depending on the situation. They're both hot-headed, though, so it's not out of the ordinary for me and Hige to just wait and watch as they duel it out to figure who's right."

"Oh."

…

"Ana?"

"Yes?"

Toboe looked a bit cautious about whatever he had to say. "Why do you hang around me?" She raised a brow. "I mean why are you helping me so much? You get food and stuff for me without my asking and waste your time waiting for me to heal before we can go looking for my pack." She merely blinked. "It's just that I can't see my pack doing this sort of stuff for me."

She sat real tall, at least for her height anyway. "I have never met a wolf before and thought it'd be a good way to learn more about them. 'A fox is wise to figure out how to deal with possible threats.'"

"What have I helped you learn?"

"Well, now I know more about the principles of a pack and I know your bodies can endure much punishment." She flicked her eyes at the barkless tree he still slept under. "I can see that wolves are quite large, but not as large as I've been told and-"

"Actually, I'm not full grown. At least, I think I'm not. Judging by the others, I might get a lot taller." Ana seemed to be thrown back by the news. _I guess being told there are wolves bigger than me does seem quite scary to someone as small as her_, he thought.

"Uh, no matter," she said, brushing it off with a wave of her paw.

"So…You're just gonna stay here until I meet up with my friends, then?"

"Pretty much."

_Yep. She's honest._


	2. Chapter 2

They had been traveling for about a day and a half since Toboe had said he could manage the pace even with the scabby gash on his underbelly. He still couldn't stretch to his full stride because it felt like his skin was tearing apart so they went at a collected walk. The wound refused to heal nicely, so the scabs were terribly painful and made his stomach so tender that he had to lay on his side to rest comfortably. Both he and Ana knew that after the scabs fell away, he'd need several more weeks for the scarring to autocorrect to a smoother appearance. Ana looked over her shoulder to make sure Toboe was still up to her pace when she saw a strange shadow over him. It took her a moment to make out that it looked like a human. She bristled and turned in the air to growl at the strange phenomenon. Toboe looked a bit surprised and stopped immediately and asked what was wrong. "What's that?"

"Huh?" Toboe looked behind him to try and see what she meant.

"_That!_ Over your head!"

Toboe looked up. He didn't see anything. His brow furrowed. Then his eyes opened at a hunch. "Do you mean my other form?" He sat.

"Your what?" Ana said, starting to calm down now that she saw he wasn't panicking.

"Well, we've been walking for a while now and I started to wonder why we haven't run into any people yet. So just in case, I made myself look human to fool other humans. That way, if there's a hunter, he'll see a kid hiking rather than a pathetic wolf and his deep red vixen friend." He let out a goofy laugh at his poor excuse for a flattering joke.

"You can do that?" Ana asked.

"Sure. All wolves can. It just takes a bit of concentration."

"So only humans will see you that way?"

"No," Toboe said, shaking his head. "Other animals can too if they look hard enough. You can try."

Ana stared at the cloud about him and tried to see past it. First the wolf faded and then in its place, a young, fourteen year old boy appeared. She could still see the fog around him, but it wasn't as obvious anymore. "I think I see it."

"With practice, you can see my other form more quickly and the mist won't be so thick, though it will never totally go away."

Ana sat, staring at his alternate body. She could see the similarity, at least, in his hair and eye color. He looked really nice…

"Uh, Ana? Is something wrong?" the boy asked.

"Ah!" Ana snapped out of her focus. "He spoke!"

"Well, yeah," Toboe shrugged. "It doesn't do us too well if we can't communicate with other people for help."

"Wow," Ana whispered. "Do you think _I_ could learn to do that?"

"Well, I…" He thought for a moment. "I don't remember them saying other animals _couldn't_. You could try."

"Okay." Ana stood up and planted her feet into the earth for a good base. Toboe could tell nothing would be able to physically move her from that spot.

"You need to want to be safe…But don't feel scared or panicked. It should feel like you're walking around and, no matter what you do, no one will see you…and that you can do whatever you want."

Ana heard Toboe's voice fading as her concentration intensified. She felt her body boil and then release the heat around her. It felt like when she sat at the bottom of a waterfall and breathed in the steam. She tried not to get excited and continued to concentrate. She tried to envision herself running through a field of tall grass. She was so short, no one would ever see her.

"Ana."

"Shh."

"Ana."

"Shh!"

"Ana!"

"_What!_" She opened her eyes with her ears pinned to her head.

"You did it!" Toboe was beaming and jumping up while his tail wagged a mile a minute, too happy to feel the sting of his stomach.

"I did?"

He stopped jumping and nodded vigorously several times. "Look up."

After a pause to assure herself that he hadn't completely scattered his brains, she did what he said and looked up. Above her stood a young, seventeen year old lady. Her bushy, blood-red hair reached down to just below her shoulder blades. Four or five smaller braids were visible within the untamed mane. Her green eyes had a sharpness to them and her face was a tad narrower than the boy's. She had nearly no tan. Barefoot, she wore clothing consisting of a plane white blouse with a deer hide vest and skirt dyed a lovely shade of brown. And she sported a fur-covered, inch-wide choker and two wrist bands that had four mini fox tails attached to each. "Wow."

"I know," Toboe said, approaching. He wasn't smiling anymore, but seemed awed all the same.

Ana laughed to herself and turned around on the spot to watch as her new form twirled for the boy, showing off her look. She was happy. "This is so wonderful!" She laughed again. But, this time, she laughed loudly and fully to anyone who could hear. She rarely exposed her feelings but it felt good to share her joy. And Toboe didn't let the moment spoil by taking advantage of the situation to attack her. He simply wagged his tail. And she stopped twirling to wag her tail too as a few overly enthusiastic tears ran down her cheeks while she lunged towards Toboe and gave him a hug. "Thank you!"

* * *

They had been trekking for several hours when they found a very large gap in the tree line. Ana ran forward, ahead of Toboe, to get a look of the terrain. "Wow."

"What?" Toboe asked as he attempted to trot to her location. "Whoa." The forest had been, more or less, leveled. _Must have been the storm._

They stood side-by-side to stare down the wavering path of toppled trees.

"Perhaps we should go down this path now? If the storm that made this is the same one that carried you, then, logically, this will lead us to where your pack is."

Toboe nodded. "I can't argue with that." As a pair, they proceeded down the track.

* * *

As the last of the pink sky disappeared out of sight, the fox and wolf settled into curling positions for the night. Ana was excited that Toboe was almost home, but she was terribly frightened at the idea of meeting his friends. _What if they try to hurt me?_ She peeked over her bushy tail to look at Toboe. _He wouldn't let them hurt me…I don't think…_ She closed her eyes as sleep from her exhausting day overcame her senses.

* * *

Ana heard a sound and woke up. "Tobo-"

"Shh," he whispered, pressing down on her muzzle. "Someone's coming."

She could tell he was serious. She rose up slowly and quietly. "What is it?"

"Don't know." Toboe didn't move anything but his ears, which swiveled in all directions trying to pinpoint the possible threat.

Ana saw the same red mist from before rise up from the ground and encircle them both. She tried to follow suite.

"No!" he whispered.

"Why?"

"You haven't had enough practice yet. You could risk losing your disguise at a bad time."

"Well, can't I just throw it back up?"

"Humans aren't so stupid that they'd forget what they saw just a moment ago. If it fails, we're in big trouble." The fox looked at him with a grumpy frown. "Just do what I say and we'll be fine." Toboe's human form stood and began to walk down the path they had been following the day before.

Not too many strides later a man stepped out from among the trees. The two stopped. Ana got close to Toboe's foot and stared at the large human. "What chu doin' in dese woods all alone, boy? Ain't too safe hur. Got wolves, don't cha know."

Toboe straightened his back and replied, "I live here."

"Is dat so?"

Toboe spied the rifle the man had strapped on his back. "Yeah, my parents and I live in a cabin out here."

"Uh-huh." He approached slowly. It made both canines uneasy. "Yer parents always let chu out alone?"

"Mostly, yes."

The man got a bit closer and Ana couldn't help but growl at him. "What's dis den? Yer guard dog?" He chuckled.

"My pet. Parents wouldn't let me get a dog so I raised _her_ when I found her abandoned in a den," Toboe said while gesturing to Ana.

"Ya know, ma friends and I have been combin' dis side of da riva lookin' fer skins." Toboe tried to keep a straight face as he heard four other guys surround him.

"I don't like this," Ana whispered, looking around them.

"It's okay," Toboe whispered back.

"We hears dat da wolves ere can look like people. Cast a spell or sumtin like dat."

"We ain't seen no cabin out here," stated the guy to Toboe's immediate left. "Don't know how we ever missed yer folks. Wouldn't mind helping us find some wolves while yer out, would ja?"

"Well, I don't think-" A rope passed over his head and he blinked on reflex as it dropped and tightened over his arms at elbow level. "Um-ah, what's going on?" Toboe was starting to get a bit panicked. He tried to step against the rope and turn to see the man holding its end.

"Don't play like you don't know. No one lives in these woods. We'll just take you on over to the boss to be sure you ain't a wolf in disguise."

"Disguise?" Toboe asked.

"Yeah," the rifleman spoke again. "Our boss' gots dis abilitay to see iffen your's a wolf er not."

"I really think I ought to be getting home now."

"No need to be worried if you ain't got nothin' to hide," said the trapper, holding him in place.

Toboe was becoming agitated. "I said I want to go home. Now please let me go!"

"Don't think so. You'll be comin' with us." The trapper tightened his grip on the rope.

"I said no!" Toboe pulled away from him. Ana yipped as she lunged at the men to try and scare them. It didn't make a difference.

"Come on." The rifleman came behind him and twisted his arms up, behind his back and then lashed his wrists together with another rope so he couldn't move. "Let's go."

Toboe, taken by surprise, didn't know how to react as he was lifted from behind by his wrists. It hurt really bad, his arms being pulled up like that. He winced. "Let go! Let go of me!" At that, Ana charged and bit down as hard as she could on the man's calf.

"Thenk yer tuff, do ya?" The man laughed. He lifted his leg and flung the fox hard into a tree. Ana immediately let go and fell to the ground. She'd been stunned.

"Ana!" Toboe screamed. "Get off me! Right now!" He thrashed, regardless that the man held him too far away to actual be hit by any of his kicks.

"All right, boys. Let's get agoin'." Half dragging and half carrying, the hunters took the boy into the forest back to their base.

"Toboe!" Ana had regained some form of sense and wobbled up to see the group vanishing behind the trees. She made to follow.

"No, don't! Ana, go find my friends! They'll come find me!"

She managed to take the mental note just before she blacked out.


	3. Chapter 3

"Toboe… Toboe…" The red fox stirred from her sleep. "Toboe." She gasped. "Toboe! Ah! They took him! What do I do? _Wait!_ He said to find his friends. … But, I can't do that. They'll eat me!" Ana stood there, wavering in place, with indecision. _No. I trust him._ She hesitated only a moment before turning on her heels and sprinting down the beaten path of felled trees.

* * *

Toboe had given up after an hour of marching. The man holding him had a grip that could challenge even Tsume's. They came to a somewhat round clearing that contained several tents situated in a circle around a large fire pit, which was being started by one member of the hunters that had stayed behind to keep guard over the site.

"Sit!" commanded the man holding him, though he gave the boy no time to obey and simply pulled him down next to a tree. The trapper, who apparently had no end of supplies, took another rope out of his backpack and secured Toboe to the tree so he couldn't even stand up. The boy huffed as the rope tightened around his midsection, over his still healing wound.

"We'll deal with you later." The men walked past the tree and went into their tents. They returned to the fire with bags of food and other edibles. Even if they didn't share any, which he knew they wouldn't, Toboe was glad they had something else to attend to besides him trying to saw his way out of the multiple ropes that bound him.

* * *

Ana hadn't stopped in her mission to find the wolf's friends. She would walk occasionally, but only so she could rest before sprinting again. She hoped she would find them before nightfall, but it was doubtful with her short stature that she would. By evening, her legs felt like jelly and her mouth was raw from the dry air she panted. Her chest screamed for her to stop running lest it burst. But she refused and kept running until her brain had the final word and simply refused to let her control her legs anymore. She tripped on the leaf-littered ground and laid there panting more heavily than she ever had. And before her muscles could tell her just how worn out they were, she had fallen asleep. It wasn't a moment before the sun rose over the tree line.

* * *

The trio had woken early that morning to continue their tracking. After Kiba and Tsume got fed up with weaving in between the forest trees, they joined Hige on the center of the trail where they covered more ground hopping from log to log. Kiba was in front, with Hige trailing a few lengths, but Tsume was the one to spot her first. "What's that?" he said, stopping. The other two did as well.

Uphill they saw a small, beaten animal's shoulders peek over the crest. When they saw its red fur, they immediately assumed it was Toboe and dashed to meet him. "Toboe!" they all called. When they reached the creature's location, the three wolves broke stride to a disappointed walk.

"It's just a damned fox," Tsume clarified. Hige sat down and panted. The fox was half asleep, so it seemed, walking with a lazy, automatic stride. Her head hung low.

They paused for only a moment. "Come on," Kiba suggested, "We got to keep looking."

Repulsed by the creature, Tsume let out a low growl as they passed her. It was enough to wake the fox, if only just a bit. "To-boe…Find friends…," she muttered.

"Wait," Hige said. He turned and stared at the fox, continuing in her dazed quest. He hopped in front of her. "Hey! What's your name?" The fox seemed to finally regain some awareness.

"Uh-uh…Ana," she said.

"Do you know where our friend, Toboe, is?" he asked. The two other wolves had turned to watch with anticipation.

The fox's ears rose up and forward as her eyes sparkled and her body woke up completely. She shook herself. "Brrr. You're Toboe's friend?" she demanded kindly. Hige looked up towards the other two wolves. Ana turned to see them as well. "Are you too?" she asked, hopefully wagging her tail.

"Yes," Kiba responded. "Do you know where he is?"

"Some hunters took him! He told me to go by myself to find you!" she looked at them all. She noted how much bigger the yellow wolf was than the other two, but she knew that was mostly fur. The gray wolf was only a hair taller than the white one, though he had a much more slender build.

The three wolves glanced at each other. "We need to hurry," Hige said.

Kiba nodded. "Yeah." He looked up at the way they had to go and then back down to the red ball of fur staring expectantly up at him. "It'll be faster if she can show us where they went."

Tsume snarled. "_What!_" Ana shied away from him.

Ignoring his co-commander, the white wolf started galloping up the trail again. Grumbling, Tsume followed. But not before glaring at the petrified fox with shining teeth.

"Pardon me, madam," Hige came up behind her and picked her up by the scruff of her neck. She let out a gasp and folded up her legs and tail like a kitten. It's not like she was going to protest to a wolf as big as _him_.

With their new cargo safely secured in the largest's jaws, the group set off to find the member whose addition would make their pack complete.

* * *

It was early morning and he was finally about to snap the rope apart. _Just…a little…more, _he thought as he wiggled, using the bark from the tree to cut into the last bit of rope around him. But he wasn't to finish his objective. The gunman came from behind the tree. Toboe froze immediately and tried not to show any indication of what he had been doing.

"Tam ta see da boss." The man took the rope and cut it. Toboe wondered why he chose not to untie him instead. But as long as they couldn't figure out what he'd been doing, he didn't care. "Up," he commanded. He grabbed Toboe's arm and helped him to stand and, not to Toboe's surprise, he resumed his position by holding onto the back of the boy's collar to lead him to where he needed to go. He was led to the largest tent. "See ya lader," the man said as he shoved the boy through the door flaps.

He landed half on his side and half on his front with a grunt, his arm crushed under his body weight. _Ow._ Surely there wasn't any real threat. There weren't any humans that could really see wolves. He tried to sit up the best he could, with his hands still bound behind his back. It didn't work.

"I didn't think they'd manage to catch a real wolf this time." Toboe froze and looked around quickly. The tent was dark and it took his eyes a moment to adjust. In his anxiety, he found what he was looking for in almost an instant. Staring calmly down at him from a chair was an older wolf. His yellow eyes were bright in the dim lighting. He had a well groomed, though abnormally colored, brown coat. Lighter hairs covered the majority of his face from the tip of his forehead down to his entire muzzle. It made him look friendlier, if that was appropriate in the current situation. A mist radiated from his body.

Once he got over his shock at seeing another wolf, of all things, Toboe finally realized that his identity would be revealed to all the other hunters. _Oh, man!_

The young wolf's expression was not missed by the elder. "You don't have to be afraid," he said. "I will not turn in one of my own. Not one so young…One that has done no wrong."

"Why?" _I'm so confused._

"Surely you have seen how skilled the men are." The wolf scissored the toes on his left front paw while he recounted memories. "I stumbled upon them one day and negotiated a partnership. I reveal any wolves I see, and they feed and shelter me." The wolf glanced around his tent in a gesture. "I have revealed a few wolves, but only after assuring myself that they were not worth the life they had." The wolf bent down from his chair to take a few laps from a glass of water on a tea table.

"So, uh, I'm safe?" Toboe asked.

"Yes, young one." The elder wolf gave a squinty smile without showing his teeth. He looked the boy up and down and got up from his chair. "I'd bet you'd rather these ropes come off," he said, approaching him. He placed his head over and behind the boy's side and snapped the rope tying his wrists together. Toboe let out a whimper as he pulled his limbs to a more natural position and sat up completely. The fog around him started to dissipate. "Do not reveal your true form!" the old wolf barked in haste. "I never know when one of the men will stick his nose in here. I yell at them every day to let me know first before coming in, but only when they go to bed am I sure that I can relax." Toboe watched as the hackles lowered on his back.

"Sorry."

The old wolf sighed. "What is your name, pup?"

It annoyed Toboe that the wolf kept changing his nicknames. "Toboe."

"A talker, are you?"

Toboe blushed. "No, sir."

"Hmm. Then why would one get such a name?" The gruff man had sat next to the boy, facing the interior of the tent. When Toboe made no move to answer, the man guessed. "There's no shame in having good lungs, boy." Toboe jumped at the correct answer. "But I'll tell you it was smart not to panic and call for help. Not that there are any wolves nearby anyway." The man leaned back on his hands.

"But there are! My friends will come find me. Ana will help them! I know she will." The old wolf glanced at the pup's sudden outburst. Then he chuckled. "It must be nice having friends you can depend on and not some bunch of idiots to tell what to do." The boy chuckled too.

…

"Name's Doc.

* * *

"There! That's where they took him!" Ana pointed with her paw while dangling in Hige's mouth. She had taken a power nap and woke with all the spirit she needed to help the pack find their friend. _My friend_, she thought to herself. She hushed. _He's my friend too…_

* * *

Doc and Toboe talked a while in the tent about all sorts of things, though Doc mostly commented ever so often while Toboe went on many digresses. He only stopped talking when his stomach growled. And right on time.

"Eh, Boss." The gunman stuck his head through the door flaps. "Boys caught a few squirrels fer dinner. Ya hungray?" The man turned his head down at the boy who refused to look at him for fear he'd give himself away if he made eye contact. "What's da standin' on dis un?"

The brown wolf looked up at the man, eyes closed, with a grin. "He's good. Just some kid who ventured a bit too far from home." He paused. "Probably too late to have him go home. It gets dark too fast here. He'll sleep in my tent 'til morn. Go fetch the extra sleeping bag, will you?"

"Sher, Boss." The gunman's head disappeared from the tent, but not before showing an obvious pout on his face. It made Toboe's spine crawl.

_He really wanted to kill me!_

"Don't worry, pup. They won't harm you on my watch."

About an hour later the two wolves were each handed a bowl of squirrel soup. Toboe slopped at it happily. It would be three more servings before he was full.

* * *

They were a good ways off but close enough to keep tabs on Toboe's scent without being stumbled upon by one of the hunters in their sleep. They couldn't smell any remains of blood apart from the squirrels so they knew he was okay - for now, anyway. It made Ana feel special that the two nicer wolves slept so close to her for protection from the gray one. He hadn't done much more than growl a few times since they had found her. And when he did speak, he never had anything nice to say to her. What had she ever done to him? When they saw the group eating contentedly, Kiba had suggested that they wait until the next morning to get Toboe back. Of course, Tsume just wanted to bomb-rush the campsite and tear the men apart. But the pack was tired after the day's run and it simply made more sense to sleep that night and continue the following day. Tsume gruntingly relented and found a spot to sleep and growled as Ana tried to find one too. Kiba and Hige knew something might happen and nonchalantly lay close to her vicinity…just in case.

* * *

Toboe yawned and stretched in his sleeping bag. He felt so much better! Doc had given him a salve to apply to his stomach to help his injury heal faster while he slept. Now the scabs were soft enough not to cause too much pain. Some had even fallen off to reveal new tissue. And with all the pillows that the old wolf lent him, his back had returned to full glory. He wriggled out of the blankets, shook himself, and yawned again. His sleepy eyes looked past the chair to the brown wolf lying on his own sleeping bag. Then he got hit with the results of last night's dinner. _Should I stay? I don't want to wake Doc up. He told the guy I wasn't a wolf. _Toboe poked his human head through the door flaps. Everything was still and quiet. He didn't even hear any birds. _One of those quiet mornings, I guess._ The boy crawled out of the tent and headed off to some spot in the woods. It would have been rude to just run off. That'd be too suspicious and get Doc in trouble. He'd return and wait for the right time to leave.

Ana had gotten up earlier and was sitting in a tree with a vantage point over the camp. She saw Toboe head off into the woods alone. She jumped down and quickly woke Kiba and the others. "He's up! He's going into the woods! We gotta go!"

The four canines rushed out to the pup's direction. Toboe was heading back to the camp when he heard the others. "Guys! Ana! You're okay!" The girl swung her arms around the boy for a bear hug. Toboe had the air squeezed out of him. "Ana, I can't breathe," he puffed.

She let go immediately. "Oh, sorry." She blushed and put a hand on her mouth.

Ana shied back as the old grey wolf stepped forward and grabbed the boy's shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked seriously, with his intense yellow eyes.

"Yeah."

"Scared us good you did, Runt," Hige said in feigned scolding.

"Let's get away from here," Kiba said.

"Wait. I can't." The wolves and fox looked at him. "There's this old wolf who saved me. He's the leader of these guys. He wouldn't tell them what I was so they didn't kill me. I can't just leave. They'll know he lied and kill him instead. I'm gonna stay here and let him walk me out a ways and then leave."

Hige sighed and plopped down lazily on his big rump and leaned up against a log, arms folded behind his head. "He's right. Guess we'll just have to sit and wait."

"We wouldn't have to if we just killed them all right now," Tsume suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, they're _really_ good at what they do. Even Doc was impressed."

"Doc?" Tsume asked.

"He's the wolf."

"Well, if you feel like that's the way to go, then we'll just wait for you," Kiba said, sitting as well.

Toboe glanced at Ana before saying, "Okay. See you later then!" then trotted off to the campsite, with his tail wagging behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

"Okay then. We'll eat and then I'll escort you to the perimeter," Doc confirmed.

"My friends will be waiting for me and know not to be seen. I won't change until I'm far from here, so that the hunters are sure I'm gone. If I run or disappear too quickly, they'll think something's wrong."

"Ere boss. Rabbit backs," said the rifleman through the tent door flaps, offering two plates of meat. Toboe jumped from his sudden intrusion and had to suppress his yelp.

"Thank you, Cal," Doc replied with a slightly annoyed look.

"Yer welcome." The rifleman withdrew from the tent.

* * *

"Ready?"

"Ready," Toboe said. Both wolves stood up to leave the tent. Doc walked out first.

"I'll be walking the kid back home now."

"Sure you don't need any help?" asked the trapper.

"Don't think so."

"My cabin isn't too far away. We'll be okay," Toboe reassured.

"Alright then." The trapper went back to cleaning off his devices of blood.

The man and boy headed off into the woods.

* * *

Cal was alone gathering wood for the coming night when he heard voices. He laid down the timber quietly and snuck in the direction of the noise. Peeking from behind a tree, he saw Doc and the kid heading away from the camp. _Jus' takin' em ome I s'pose_, he thought. He was about to return to his chore when he saw something interesting…

"Guess I'll head out now," said the boy.

"Alright then. Take care of yourself, now," said the boss, as he scratched the boy's head.

The boy hunched down and began to focus on the ground, as if he was trying to see something barely visible. To the trapper's shock, the boy's form faded into a Red Wolf sniffing at the ground.

"Lookie ere!" Cal stepped from behind the tree. The wolf wheeled around to stare incredulously at the rifleman before them. "What's goin on ere den?" The hunter reached behind him for his ever present rifle.

"Hold on Cal," Doc tried to intervene. "He's just a pup." Cal leveled his rifle at the boy. "He's not even that big. I'm letting him go. He'll be a much greater prize in a year or two. We'll be coming back and can lay some traps. Besides, we know what his human form looks like now."

Cal wasn't convinced. "Run," Doc whispered.

"Heard that!" Cal swung his gun and fired at Doc's arm.

A brown wolf fell to the ground.

"Doc!" Toboe screamed.

"Now you, ya litta trick," announced the rifleman. The young wolf froze, unable to decide whether to run or stay with the fallen elder.

"Don't you dare!" Cal and Toboe looked up just in time to see a fox attach itself to the hunter's face after jumping from a tree.

"Ana!" Toboe snapped out of his paralysis. The gun went off, which gave Toboe enough courage to charge the man. His fangs pierced into the man's calf.

Cal screamed as he flailed in an attempt to dislodge the vixen from his face and aim a shot at the wolf on his leg at the same time. But before he could pull the trigger, he saw something white blur past his vision and the gun was retched from his hands.

Kiba crunched down on the gun, splitting it in half. "Hige!"

"Got it!" A giant of a yellow wolf crashed into the back of the man. Toboe released his hold and let the man fall.

Before the man could even try to get up he felt the sharp, wet fangs of a fourth wolf on the back of his neck.

Tsume crunched down on the man's neck and glorified in the hot blood he felt on his muzzle. Once he was sure he was dead, he let go and licked his jowls. "Huh, bastard," he panted.

Toboe stood, shocked by what had just happened. Then a small red thing slammed into him.

"_Toboe_! You're okay! I'm so happy you're okay!" the fox squealed.

Toboe laughed and hugged her back. Then his face got serious and he looked over at the old wolf. The others followed his gaze.

Kiba walked over to Doc and sniffed him then placed his ear near his muzzle. "He's alive."

Toboe, somewhat relieved, walked over the Doc as well. "Doc?" He waited. "Are you okay?"

The wolf stirred and opened his eyes. Toboe's tail began to wag hopefully.

Doc tried to stand. He held up his leg. "Well, that hurts," he said.

Toboe quickly got up alongside him to offer support. Everyone was staring at them. "Uh, this is Doc. My friend."

"Greetings," Doc added.

Kiba approached. "Thank you for saving him."

Ana also approached. "Yes. Thank you." Tsume only blinked.

"So what do we do now? The old man his injured. How are we going to explain that to his buddies over there?" said Hige.

Ana thought for a moment. "I've got an idea."

* * *

A girl rushed forward from the dark of the woods and nearly crashed into the hunters. "Oh, thank goodness!" she exclaimed. "Please, are you Doc's friends?"

"Yeah," the trapper replied.

"Please, he's hurt!" She turned to lead the way.

"Wait! Who are you?"

"I'm Toboe's sister. I went looking for him last night when he didn't come home. I heard a gunshot and ran to it. Toboe's alright but your friend, Doc, was shot by accident. He said that before he and my brother split up a wolf came out of nowhere and attacked them. His buddy, Cal, was nearby collecting firewood and was there in time to defend him. But the wolf went after him, causing Cal to misfire, hitting Doc in the arm. The wolf got Cal from behind and killed him. Doc managed to fire at the wolf. It's gone now but I don't know when it'll be back. We have to get them to safety!" Ana was breathless.

"Geeze! Come on, guys!" the trapper commanded.

* * *

The hunters and the girl found the boy and Doc kneeled on the ground, Toboe supported the old man.

The trapper fell to his knees, "Are you okay, Boss?"

"I'm fine. But Cal didn't make it." The men gazed over at the bloody body.

"Let's get you back to camp." The hunters gathered around him and got him on his feet.

"Wait," Doc said. He turned his head. "Will you two be okay on your own?" he asked the wolf and fox.

"I think so," Toboe said, dusting off his pants.

"Just make sure not to run. It might attract the wolf's attention. Keep your eyes open," Doc advised.

"We will," Ana assured.

"See you round, Doc."

"See you, lad." The boy and girl headed into the woods as the hunters escorted their leader back to base.

* * *

Three wolves stepped out from behind the greenery once the pair were far from the sight or hearing of the hunters.

"Can't believe that worked," Tsume said.

"I know," Toboe said. He faced Ana. "Thanks."

Ana blushed. "It was nothing."

…

"We should be going now," said Kiba.

"Uh, yeah." Toboe said. He turned to face Ana. He hesitated for a moment, then embraced her in a big hug. Ana froze and blushed a deeper shade of red. She could see Hige and Tsume's stunned looks, though neither did or said anything. The boy let her go. "I'll miss you," he said.

"I'll miss you too." She realized she was starting to cry as her voice broke.

Kiba and Hige had already started walking off. Tsume was about to when he saw something that sent his hackles up with a growl.

Ana wrapped her arms around Toboe's waist and gave him a hug of her own. Then, to the boy's surprise, she placed a kiss on his lips. Tsume, having none of it, charged the vixen who quickly leaped away and climbed up a nearby tree with a chuckle. Tsume placed his paws on the tree as he barked and snarled at her up in the canopy. The fox took one last glance at the Red Wolf. "Bye," she whispered. Then she took off, leaping from branch to branch, far from the glare of Tsume's eyes.

"Bye," Toboe replied. He lowered his head to stare at Tsume. "Tsume, she's gone." Tsume snorted and got down off the tree to follow him as they rejoined the others of their pack, unaware that a Red Fox continued to watch from the treetops.


End file.
